


machinery of sorrow

by phalangine



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 12:43:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10922049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phalangine/pseuds/phalangine
Summary: Spock finds Leonard hunched over his notes. This isn't the first time he has had to drag his partner away from work long after the sun has set. He doesn't have to ask what Leonard is working on; he already knows. It's the same case that keeps Spock awake at night.





	machinery of sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> title from a muriel rukeyser poem

Spock finds Leonard hunched over his notes. This isn't the first time he has had to drag his partner away from work long after the sun has set. He doesn't have to ask what Leonard is working on; he already knows. It's the same case that keeps Spock awake at night.

From the opposite side of the wall in the lab comes the usual muffled pounding. Spock pretends he doesn't hear it, pretends he doesn't see Leonard's guilty flinch. He can do nothing about either.

"Come to bed," he says as he draws even with Leonard's chair. The doctor's eyes are red, and one of his sleeves is damp. Spock's stomach rolls. "You will not be any use to him if you make yourself sick," he insists.

Leonard nods, a testament to how tired he must be, and together they make their way to bed. Leonard collapses fully dressed. Spock gives him a few minutes to undress himself before squaring his shoulders and stripping Leonard himself.

"I need you, too, Doctor," he says quietly as he tosses Leonard's socks into the laundry basket.

Leonard lifts his head, mouth twisted wryly. "Come to bed, Spock."

Spock doesn't hesitate.

It's strange to be in bed with Leonard without Jim- it was their captain who brought them together, and it was Jim who bridged the distance between them. He was always there, laughing and teasing and forcing them to accept the men beneath the masks. Spock isn't emotionless. Leonard isn't undisciplined. Jim isn't half as reckless as he seems. Wasn't half as reckless as he seemed.

Spock holds Leonard close, the two of them lying on their sides, Leonard's back to Spock's chest. It makes for an awkward angle for prepping, but Spock doesn't complain.

When he finally presses in, Leonard arches into him, one hand flying back to take hold of Spock's. It was unthinkable a year ago that Leonard would ever let Spock be so close to him, yet now he leans on Spock without hesitation.

Leonard's breath comes faster, harder, as Spock pumps into him, but it's the fingers tangled with his own that capture Spock's mind.

He can feel Leonard's emotions without a single barrier. They rush over him, regret and self-loathing and frustration swirling around Spock's mind. But beneath them lies the core of Leonard's self. His refusal to give in, his trust in Spock to help him find the answer. His certainty that eventually they will bring back their third part. They will be whole again. Leonard feels this deeply, and despite all logic telling him otherwise, Spock believes his doctor. There is a cure to this "zombie" disease, and Leonard will find it. There is no one more capable.

And that man, the one who will eventually turn the tide against this epidemic, is the one in Spock's bed. Leonard comes to him for comfort, for promise. It's a heavy, heady weight. It's been more than a year since Jim first coaxed the doctor into joining them, but Spock still feels the same dizzying sense of wonder at Leonard's presence, his closeness.

Jim would probably find it amusing, in a quiet sort of way.

Spock feels it when Leonard finishes. He tugs his doctor closer and buries his face in Leonard's neck, breathing him in deep as he pushes in the last few times before he does the same.

They lie tangled together after. Leonard rolls them over and noses at Spock's chest. Their hands are still linked, so Spock can feel perfectly how much Leonard craves the reassurance he finds in Spock. So, too, can he feel the pang of emptiness without Jim.

It only makes Spock hold him tighter.

He misses their third, too.

 

**_xx_ **

 

Jim is a monster.

Spock reminds himself of this as he listens to the all too Jim screams as Leonard injects his latest attempt at a cure. They can't let him join his kind. Nor can they let him roam free. He would only hurt people- and himself. The others tolerate his presence uneasily. Were it not for Leonard's experiments, Spock is certain Jim would have been killed by now.

The knowledge does little to lighten the guilt he feels at Jim's agonized screams.

 

**_xx_ **

 

Spock quickly found himself enamored with Leonard's hair. Not just the smooth coif at the top of his head but also the wiry curls that cover his chest and the trail that leads down his belly. He, like Jim, has only sparse hair. The feeling of running his hand over Leonard's hairy chest is unique; he could pet Leonard for hours and still be fascinated by the texture.

"'M not a cat," Leonard grumbles sometimes. He doesn't mean it, though. He likes being petted, likes the attention and open appreciation Spock shares with him.

As much as Spock likes the side of the doctor that presents a challenge, that expresses his emotions openly and without reservation, he likes the soft side of him equally. The lazy stretch of his mind, the way he sighs and leans back against Spock, the pool of arousal in his belly that he largely ignores, it's all still new and wonderful, and Spock wishes more than anything that Jim were here to witness it.

 

**_xx_ **

 

Leonard does it.

After months of fruitless tests and attempts, he finally distills a cure.

Spock watches in wonder as Jim's eyes slowly clear. His meaningless moans stutter to a halt, and his slouch straightens. He blinks and runs his tongue over his chapped lips.

"Bones?" he rasps, confusion written in the wrinkles in his brow. "What's going on? Why am I tied up?"

Leonard shakes his head and drags Jim in for a crushing hug.

"Hey, hobgoblin," he calls over his shoulder, "get in here."

Spock goes.

He takes Jim's whispered face in his hands and kisses his hard. He doesn't care that Jim tastes like hundreds of days of morning breath. Jim is Jim once again. That's all that matters.

"You need a bath," Leonard chokes out. "Good God, man. You stink."

"Bones, I don't-"

"Shut up, Jim."

And then Leonard is kissing Jim, and Spock looks on happily, one arm snaking around each of his partners. They'll have to tell Jim soon. It won't be pretty, but they'll make it through. If they could make it through nearly losing their captain, they can make it through getting him back.

**Author's Note:**

> remember when i used to write fully fleshed-out fics? yeah, me neither


End file.
